Sunday, November 16, 2014

Jonathan Gruber certainly has supplied a great deal of fodder for those who oppose Obamacare. It has recently come to public attention that, with respect to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, he's on record for saying, "... It's a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter ..." (Honors Colloquium 2012, University of Rhode Island) as well as, "... They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference ..." (Washington University, 2013) in addition to the similar and related quotes mentioned below.

Intertwined fingers is one example of what is known in body language terminology as a Manipulator, Adaptor or Pacifier (MAP) - a variety of self-touching. When evaluating any nonverbal signal - it is profoundly important to never interpret them in isolation - look at the whole person. Many novices will tell you that intertwined fingers are a sign of significant stress and anxiety - which is certainly true sometimes - yet Mr. Gruber shows us an exception here when we take the time to look with a wider and more objective lens.

Note that Johnathan Gruber bends one of his wrists during each of these intertwined finger configurations isolated from the above video. This body language cluster is highly significant - for it tells us that he has a very high degree of emotional comfort with his statements - he may or may not be factually correct - but he absolutely believes what he is saying here (e.g. The stupidity of the American Voter, Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage, etc.).

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This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.

This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.